Monday, November 24, 2008

Like Mother Like Daughter

Lately I have become very attached to my baby doll. I have named her baby and constantly ask for her if she is not in my sight. The baby used to be Mom's and it is an original Cabbage Patch kid that Grandma Mary stood in a painstakingly long line one Christmas in NYC to purchase from the Cabbage Patch baby hospital. I have become so attached to this baby that Mom and Dad are getting worried if the baby ever gets lost b/c there really would be no way to replace her!

Today I decided that it was time to start trying my hand at babywearing like Mom does with me. I sat on the kitchen floor with the Ergo backpack and the Mei Tie Baby all strewn around me and I just could not figure out how to get baby on my back. I kept saying to Mom, "Baby? Bakpak?" but she was not getting it. I grew more and more frustrated until Mom finally figured out what I was trying to do. With Mom's help we got her loaded up on my back and once she was on there was no turning back! I love having baby attached to me! Mom lifted me up to the mirror so that I could see and all I could do was grin from ear to ear and laugh with delight.


OK baby, I don't think she sees us, let's go!



Eating and signing for chicken (one finger pecking on my other hand)


Here baby, try this it tastes like chicken! Yum yum!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Southern Living Worm Farmer


I am now officially a worm farmer! On Monday we went to see Susan Quinby (the worm lady) to pick up the worms we purchased a couple weeks ago. Susan runs a vermicomposting business out of her house and we bought 2 pounds of worms and an apartment for them to live in. I am so excited to finally have some friends to play with. I longingly stand outside the pantry door and knock every now and then hoping they will come out and play. Mom and Dad tell me that they don't like the light very much so I only get to play with them when we feed them.

Southern Living is writing a story on Susan's business and Susan invited us to be a part of the feature article. While at her house we were photographed over 200 times as Susan walked us through the process of vermicomposting. Check back in the next few months as I may be the youngest worm farmer ever featured in Southern Living!


Playing with my worms.

They are living in our pantry and we feed them all of our kitchen scraps and even our junk mail. The tomatoes and cucumbers in the picture above were fed to them on 4 days ago. Look at the first picture to see just how much they have eaten. If you are quiet enough you can even hear them munching.

Mom in front of their apartment


Kissing them goodnight until we feed them again!

Rash/Eczema Update


We went to see Dr. Ramsdell today about the rash and eczema that I have. Since Monday my rash has gone down significantly. It is now dry and resembles eczema more than a rash. We decided against allergy testing and instead voted on the elimination diet.

Mom and I are going back to the pool on Monday and if the rash returns like it did on Monday of this week then we will eliminate the pool. Mom and I will also be going gluten free for the next six weeks. If that does not solve the eczema then we will go off diary for another 6 weeks. And finally, if that doesn't work we will go back in for allergy testing.


Pretending to be a fireman at the Doctors office. These pictures are from Dad's new phone!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Apple Toonlet

Apple

Apple

Here is my first attempt at being funny via Toonlet. Not sure it worked. Click on the comic strip to see a larger version.

Inward facing foot


This picture does not show my inward facing foot because it no longer faces inward. This picture shows you what happens when Dad and Mom let me dress myself! But let's get back to my foot. While Grandma was in town last week she noticed that I was walking around with my foot facing inward. We were not sure as to the cause but we knew it didn't look good.

So on Monday Mom and I went to see my chiropractor, Dr. Bell. She took one look at me and knew right away that it was nothing major. In fact, it was as simple as my hip being out of place. She put me up on the table and popped my hip (I laughed at the sound) and sure enough my foot was fixed! The reason it was facing inward was due in part to my leg muscles not being fully formed. As I continue to grow and develop my muscles the issue should go away.



"Twins"

The Elimination Diet

We're not sure what's going on with my skin but whatever it is I wish we could find out soon. As you can see above my legs are covered in eczema. Actually my whole body is covered. Some days are really bad (like the one in the picture above) while others are not. This rash started as far back as April of this year but never reached the level it is at now. It disappeared for a while and just recently came back. Some days the eczema is dry while other days it looks like a 2nd degree burn. It's extremely painful and I dread having my diaper or clothes changed. Whenever Mom or Dad go to change my diaper I sign hurt trying to tell them how uncomfortable I am. And not only do I have a severe case of eczema but I am also growing two new bottom teeth. Life is a little tough right now to say the least.


We've seen the doctor once and have another visit scheduled for this Friday to do some allergy testing. We have tried to treat the eczema with olive oil and Shea butter. It usually helps but then it comes back. Eczema in babies/toddlers is usually a sign of an allergic reaction, but to what? Gluten? Dairy? Chlorine from the swimming pool? Chicken? Who knows?

Mom and I have now gone gluten free so we'll will see what that does. We'll try to eliminate diary next. The flair up you see above happened on Monday which was the day we went to the pool. It could be that chlorine is aggravating the eczema and not causing it. Another reason why we should have more saltwater pools!

When we find out the cause we'll be sure to share.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Rolling out a new blog

Dad and I have been working very hard over the past week to redesign our blog. The overall goal was to create a blog that had a better design, allowed more features and most importantly gives our readers the opportunity to contribute more. Along with the new design we have added a few new features and hopefully by the end of the day today we will have even more to share.

This redesign required a lot of research and learning on how HTML and XML works. We are still learning how to tweak the code and make the site even better. Let us know how you like it and if you have any suggestions.

Some of the new features include a new link bar at the top of the page under the header picture. This allows the reader several options. You can visit our YouTube and Flickr pages, see all of our previous video posts on the blog, and share your ideas for what you'd like to see on the blog. Be sure to visit the idea sharing tool and let us know what new features and videos you'd like to see and we'll make it happen. All ideas are welcome!

Enjoy the new site and be sure to let us know what you think!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Roo...says the Kangaroo

Happy Halloween everyone! As much as Dad really wanted to dress me up as a Woopie Cushion, Mom had other plans. Instead, I was a Kangaroo! It was the suit from last year that was to big for me.

Grandma and Grandpa came up from Chattanooga to visit for the weekend and once they arrived we headed down to the Fearrington Village in Pittsboro to see their Pumpkin Carving contest. They had some incredible pumpkins on display and we enjoyed all of the creativity once the sun went down. The website said there would be bluegrass music and hayrides along with the pumpkins but they lied. We were pretty bummed that we drove all the way out there and they didn't fulfill their promise.

We saw a lot of other kids and I finally realized that I wasn't the only one in a crazy outfit. I even moo'd and signed cow when a little girl walked by in a cow suit. I proceeded to follow her and moo until she noticed me. She turned around and gave me a look that screamed "what, and you think a kangaroo costume is special". I made friends with a boy dressed as a puppy, held hands with Robin Hood, barked at a dog dressed up like a fire hydrant, and pulled the antenna of a bumble bee.



Roo!


Wagging my roo tail.


Are we done yet? Can you get this thing off of me!


Where have we been?

On another note...In case you were wondering where we've been lately...well, let's just say it's been a bit crazy. My Nanny is pregnant and is due in February and almost gave birth 2 weeks ago. It was a very scary situation for her and her doctor immediately placed her on bed rest. Since this was an unexpected situation it left us without child care for 2 weeks. Dad had plently of sick and vacation time but unfortunately he had to travel to Philly. This forced Mom to take 2 weeks off of work while we desperate looked for alternative care.

We interviewed 7 nannies (some on email/phone, others in person) and visited 2 daycares and 3 Montessori Schools. None of the nannies panned out and all 5 daycares/schools had major issues. Actually, we had major issues with the daycares/schools. One of the schools smelled like cat pee! And get this - The daycares we visited would not allow cloth diapers or Breast Milk in the toddler room. Their reason was that they had to treat breast milk as an allergy. What? Are you kidding me? So what are they treating formula and cows milk as? What a shame! Since Maya's diet is still around 90% breast milk and 10% solid foods we could not send Maya to daycare/school.



Hold on guys, let me take a sip.